Device and method for performing voice recognition using trigger voice

ABSTRACT

An electronic device and a voice recognition method thereof are provided. A voice recognition method of an electronic device includes receiving trigger voice, storing a characteristic of the trigger voice for voice verification by analyzing the trigger voice. When a user issues a voice command, determining whether the user voice command comprises the characteristic belonging to the trigger voice, and performing function of the electronic device corresponding to the user voice command based on the determination. Accordingly, users may easily use the voice recognition function of the electronic device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No.10-2014-0007386, filed on Jan. 21, 2014, in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Field

Apparatuses and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments relate toan electronic device and a voice recognition method thereof, and moreparticularly, to an electronic device and a method for performing voicerecognition using a trigger voice.

Description of the Related Art

Convenient use of electronic devices is desirable. Accordingly, therehas been continued development of technology for convenientlycontrolling electronic devices. The technology for convenientlycontrolling electronic devices started from a method for controlling anelectronic device using an input unit provided on/attached to theelectronic device and has developed to a method for controlling anelectronic device using a remote controller which can control theelectronic device from a short distance. As the use of electronicdevices including a display with a touch panel has been increasingrapidly, technology for controlling an electronic device using a touchinput has been increasingly used.

However, in order to control an electronic device by touch, users alwayshave to be within an arm's length distance to be able to touch theelectronic device. Accordingly, a need for controlling an electronicdevice at a short distance without an external device such as a remotecontroller, with or without a touch screen, has increased.

As a result, voice recognition technology has been developed. However,voice recognition technology is inefficient as it is easily disrupted byexternal noises (e.g. a pet's sound, noise from other electronicdevices, etc.) as well as a user's voice. Accordingly, in order to usethe voice recognition technology to respond only to the user's voice, amethod of pressing a button provided on an electronic device or a remotecontroller has been developed, and is used whenever the user issues avocal command.

However, because the user has to press a button provided on anelectronic device or a remote controller every time the user issues avoice command, the requirement of being at an arm's length to theelectronic remote control device cases is still inconvenience to theuser.

Therefore, there is a need for an easy to use voice recognition functionwhich is not disrupted even when there are external noises or whenmultiple people are present and communicating.

SUMMARY

Exemplary embodiments overcome the above disadvantages and otherdisadvantages not described above. Also, is the embodiments are notrequired to overcome the disadvantages described above, and an exemplaryembodiment may not overcome any of the problems described above.

The different exemplary embodiments provide an electronic device thatenables a user to easily utilize voice recognition function, and a voicerecognition method thereof.

According to an aspect of an exemplary embodiment, a voice recognitionmethod of an electronic device includes when a user voice is input,determining whether the input user voice is a trigger voice, when it isdetermined that the input user voice is the trigger voice, changing amode of operation of the electronic device to a voice recognition mode,analyzing the received user's voice, and storing at least onecharacteristic of the user's voice, when a voice command is input tocontrol the electronic device, analyzing the voice command, andcomparing an analyzed characteristic of the voice command with thecharacteristic of the user's voice and performing a functioncorresponding to the voice command based on the comparison results.

According to another exemplary embodiment, storing includes storing atleast one of energy of the user's voice, a frequency bandwidth, areverberation time (RT) while the user's voice is being input, or avoice signal to noise ratio (SNR).

According to another exemplary embodiment, performing includes, ifanalysis data of at least one of energy of the voice command, afrequency bandwidth, a reverberation time (RT) while the voice commandis being input, and a voice signal to noise ratio (SNR) are within apredetermined range of analysis data of at least one of the energy ofthe trigger voice, the frequency bandwidth, the RT while the triggervoice is being input, and the voice SNR, performing the functioncorresponding to the voice command.

According to another exemplary embodiment, comprising includes, if aplurality of users' voices are input, analyzing the plurality of users'voices, and from among the analyzed plurality of users' voices,determining at least one of the analyzed users' voices having at leastone characteristic matching the stored at least one characteristic ofthe user's voice as the voice command, and performing includesperforming a function corresponding to the determined voice command.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the method includes, if theanalyzed at least one characteristic of the voice command is differentfrom the stored at least one characteristic of the user's voice,bypassing the voice command.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the method includes, if it isdetermined that the user's voice is the trigger voice, and theelectronic device changes its mode of operation to the voice recognitionmode, displaying a user interface (UI) indicating activation of thevoice recognition mode.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the displaying includes, ifthe function corresponding to the voice command is performed, displayingan indicator indicating the voice command on the UI.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the trigger voice is apredetermined voice set to change the mode of operation of theelectronic device to the voice recognition mode to perform voicerecognition.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the user's voice and thevoice command are received through a microphone included in at least oneof an external device or the electronic device.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the method includes, if thevoice command is not input within a predetermined period of time, endingthe voice recognition mode.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the determining includesdetermining that the received user's voice is the trigger voice if theuser's voice is a first received voice after pressing a button on anexternal device.

According to an aspect of an exemplary embodiment, an electronic deviceincludes a voice receiver configured to receive a user's voice, a voicesignal analyzer configured to analyze the received user's voice, astorage configured to store at least one characteristic of the user'svoice, and a controller configured to determine whether the receiveduser's voice is a trigger voice, and if it is determined that thereceived user's voice is the trigger voice, change a mode of operationof the electronic device to a voice recognition mode, analyze thereceived user's voice, and store the at least one characteristic of theuser's voice in the storage, wherein if a voice command is input tocontrol the electronic device, the controller is further configured tocontrol the voice signal analyzer to analyze the voice command, compareat least one analyzed characteristic of the voice command with thestored at least one characteristic of the user's voice, and perform afunction corresponding to the voice command based on the comparisonresults.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the controller is furtherconfigured to store in the storage at least one of energy of the user'svoice, a frequency bandwidth, a reverberation time (RT) the user's voiceis being input, or a voice signal to noise ratio (SNR) as the at leastone characteristic of the user's voice.

According to another exemplary embodiment, if analysis data of at leastone of energy of the voice command, a frequency bandwidth, areverberation time (RT) the voice command is being input, or a voicesignal to noise ratio (SNR) are within a predetermined range of analysisdata of at least one of the energy of the trigger voice, the frequencybandwidth, the RT while the trigger voice is being input, and the voiceSNR, the controller performs the function corresponding to the voicecommand.

According to another exemplary embodiment, when a plurality of users'voices are input through the voice receiver, the controller controls thevoice signal analyzer to analyze the plurality of users' voices,determines at least one of the plurality of users' voice, having the atleast one analyzed characteristic matching the stored at least onecharacteristic of the user's voice as the voice command, and performs afunction corresponding to the determined voice command.

According to another exemplary embodiment, when the analyzed at leastone characteristic of the voice command is different from the stored atleast one characteristic of the user's voice, the controller bypassesthe voice command.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the electronic device furtherincludes display and if it is determined that the user's voice is thetrigger voice, and the electronic device changes its mode of operationto the voice recognition mode, the controller controls the display todisplay a user interface (UI) indicating activation of the voicerecognition mode.

According to another exemplary embodiment, when the functioncorresponding to the voice command is performed, the controller controlsthe display to display an indicator indicating the voice command on theUI.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the trigger voice is apredetermined voice set to change the mode of operation of theelectronic device to the voice recognition mode to perform voicerecognition.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the electronic device furtherincludes a communicator, and when the user's voice and the voice commandare received through an external device, the controller controls thecommunicator to receive the user's voice and the voice command.

According to another exemplary embodiment, when the voice command is notinput within a predetermined period of time, the controller ends thevoice recognition mode.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the controller is furtherconfigured to determine that the input user's voice is the trigger voiceif the user's voice is the first voice input after pressing a button onan external device.

According to an aspect of an exemplary embodiment, a voice recognitionmethod of an electronic device includes receiving a first voice input,performing speech to text recognition on the received first voice inputto obtain a first text, determining if the first text corresponds to acommand to enter a voice recognition mode, and if it is determined thatthe first text corresponds to the command to enter the voice recognitionmode: entering the voice recognition mode, storing a firstcharacteristic of the first voice input, receiving a second voice input,performing speech verification on the second voice input by comparing asecond characteristic of the second voice input with the firstcharacteristic of the first voice input, and performing a functioncorresponding to the second voice input if the second characteristic ofthe second voice input corresponds to the first characteristic of thefirst voice input.

According to another exemplary embodiment, performing a functioncorresponding to the second voice input includes performing speech totext recognition on the received second voice input to obtain a secondtext, and determining if the second text corresponds to a function ofthe electronic device, and performing the function based on thedetermination.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the first characteristic andthe second characteristic comprise at least one of energy of the user'svoice, a frequency bandwidth, a reverberation time (RT) the user's voiceis being input, or a voice signal to noise ratio (SNR) as the at leastone characteristic of the user's voice.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the second characteristic ofthe second voice input corresponds to the first characteristic of thefirst voice input if the first characteristic and the secondcharacteristic are within a predetermined range.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the method further includesexiting the voice recognition mode if the second voice input is notreceived within a predetermined amount of time.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the method further includesbypassing the second voice input if the second characteristic of thesecond voice input does not correspond to the first characteristic ofthe first voice input.

According to the diverse exemplary embodiments, a user may easily usevoice recognition function of the electronic device by determiningwhether a voice said by the user is intentional.

Additional and/or other aspects and advantages will be set forth in partin the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the different exemplaryembodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

The above and/or other aspects will be more apparent by describingcertain exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a method for inputting trigger voice to an electronicdevice according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 illustrates a method for inputting trigger voice using anexternal device according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an electronicdevice according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating another embodiment of anelectronic device according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart describing a method for analyzing user's voiceand performing voice recognition according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart describing a method for analyzing user's voice,performing voice recognition, and finishing the process of voicerecognition according to an exemplary embodiment; and

FIGS. 7 to 10 illustrate different examples of User Interfaces (UIs)displayed on the device being controlled via voice recognition,according to an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Certain exemplary embodiments will now be described in greater detailwith reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the following description, same drawing reference numerals are usedfor the same elements even in different drawings. The matters defined inthe description, such as detailed construction and elements, areprovided to assist in a comprehensive understanding. Thus, it isapparent that the exemplary embodiments can be carried out without thosespecifically defined matters. Also, well-known functions orconstructions are not described in detail since they would obscure theembodiments with unnecessary detail.

FIG. 1 illustrates a method for inputting trigger voice to an electronicdevice 100 according to an exemplary embodiment In FIG. 1, a televisionis used as an embodiment of the electronic device 100 but the electronicdevice 100 is not limited thereto. One of ordinary skill in the art willunderstand that numerous different electronic devices (music system,personal computer, gaming systems etc.) can be used as well. Theelectronic device 100 may be implemented with diverse electronic deviceshaving voice recognition function, such as a mobile phone, a tabletcomputer, a digital camera, a camcorder, a notebook computer, and apersonal digital assistant (PDA).

The electronic device 100 may include a microphone. Thus, the electronicdevice 100 may receive voice commands from the user within apredetermined distance, analyze the received voice commands, anddetermine whether the received voice command is the trigger voice. Thetrigger voice is a predetermined short word/phrase such as “Hi, TV”which triggers a function of the electronic device 100 to be activated.

When it is determined that the received voice is a trigger voice, theelectronic device 100 enters into a voice recognition mode. In addition,the electronic device 100 stores a characteristic of the user's voicerecorded in the trigger voice.

More specifically, the characteristic of a user's voice may include uservoice condition and voice environment. The user voice condition mayinclude energy of the user voice, and frequency band distribution of theuser voice. The voice environment may include a reverberation time (RT)while issuing the voice command, or a voice signal to noise ratio (SNR).

That is, the characteristic of user voice may include energy of the uservoice, frequency band distribution of the user voice, a reverberationtime (RT) while issuing the voice command, and/or a voice signal tonoise ratio (SNR).

For example, when the user issues a voice command such as “Hi, TV”, thecharacteristic of the user voice may include energy of the user voice,frequency band distribution according to the user's gender and/or age,an RT of the user's voice according to the location of the electronicdevice 100, or a voice SNR according to silent interior conditions,existence of a construction site, existence of a pet, or the number ofpeople in the vicinity.

When a user's voice is input, after the result of analysis of thetrigger voice is stored as a characteristic of a user's voice, theelectronic device 100 analyzes the input user voice and determineswhether the input user voice comprise characteristics matching thestored users voice belonging to the stored trigger voice. That is, theelectronic device 100 determines whether a characteristic of the inputuser's voice is similar to the stored characteristic of the storeduser's voice belonging to the stored trigger voice.

In addition, when it is determined that the characteristic of the inputuser's voice is similar to the stored characteristic of the storeduser's voice belonging to the stored trigger voice, the electronicdevice 100 performs voice recognition on the input user's voice. Forexample, when the user says “Hi, TV” which is stored as trigger voiceand then says “Channel 13” with the same characteristics as that of thestored user's voice belonging to the trigger voice, the electronicdevice 100 changes the channel to channel 13.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method for inputting trigger voice using anexternal device/remote controller 10 according to an exemplaryembodiment.

In order for the electronic device 100 to receive a user's voice throughthe remote controller 10 and run voice recognition function, the userpresses an input button 20 on the remote controller 10 and issues thevoice command, according to an exemplary embodiment. At this time, auser's voice first received after pressing the input button 20 may bestored as the trigger voice. That is, even when words such as “Hi, TV”are predetermined as trigger voice, a user's voice first received afterpressing the input button 20 becomes trigger voice since the electronicdevice 100 receives a signal indicating that a voice is input throughthe input button 20.

Accordingly, when the user presses the input button 20 and issues avoice command such as “Channel 10” as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 2,the electronic device 100 recognizes “Channel 10” as a trigger voice.Subsequently, the electronic device 100 enters a voice recognition modein accordance with the trigger voice “Channel 10” and performs voicerecognition. Thus, the electronic device 100 changes to channel 10 inthe exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2.

Accordingly, the user may easily use the voice recognition function ofthe electronic device 100 by issuing a trigger voice command. A specificmethod for performing voice recognition using the electronic device 100will be described later.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an electronicdevice 100 according to an exemplary embodiment. With reference to FIG.3, the electronic device 100 may include a voice receiver 110, a voicesignal analyzer 120, storage 130, and a controller 140. The electronicdevice 100 may be implemented in diverse electronic devices having voicerecognition function, such as a tablet computer, a digital camera, acamcorder, a notebook computer, a PDA, and a mobile phone.

The voice receiver 110 receives a user's voice. The voice receiver 110may include a microphone (not shown), and receive a user's voice throughthe microphone. The microphone may be included in the electronic device100 or may be a part of an external device. For example, the externaldevice may be a remote controller. The remote controller may receive auser's voice through the microphone, and transmit the user's voice tothe voice receiver 110 of the electronic device 100.

That is, the voice receiver 110 may receive the user's voice inputthrough the microphone, and process the user's voice into electricalaudio data. In addition, the voice receiver 110 may transmit theprocessed audio data to the voice signal analyzer 120.

The voice signal analyzer 120 analyzes a voice received from the voicereceiver 110. For example, the voice signal analyzer 120 analyzes auser's voice to acquire energy, frequency band distribution, or areverberation time (RT) of the user's voice according to an exemplaryembodiment.

When a user's voice is received, noise around the user may also bereceived. Accordingly, the voice signal analyzer 120 may analyze auser's voice to acquire a user voice signal to noise ratio (SNR).

The storage 130 stores diverse analysis results of the voice signalanalyzer 120. More specifically, the storage 130 may store an analyzedcharacteristic of a user's voice, i.e. energy of the user's voice,frequency band distribution, an RT of the user voice, and/or a uservoice SNR.

In addition, the storage 130 stores diverse software modules and data todrive the electronic device 100. For example, the storage 130 may storesoftware including a voice recognition module, a base module, a sensingmodule, a communication module, a presentation module, a web browsermodule, and a service module, according to an exemplary embodiment.

The controller 140 controls overall operation of the electronic device100. In particular, the controller 140 determines whether a user's voiceinput through the voice receiver 110 is a trigger voice.

The trigger voice is a voice to change the mode of operation of theelectronic device 100 into a voice recognition mode to perform voicerecognition. More specifically, the trigger voice is a predeterminedshort word/phrase stored in the electronic device 100. For example, theelectronic device 100 may initially set “Hi, TV” as a trigger voice. Inother words, the trigger voice may be a user's voice which ispredetermined and received through the voice receiver 110 as describedabove, or may be a user's voice first input after the user presses aninput button provided on an external device of the electronic device100, e.g. a remote controller.

When the controller 140 determines that an input voice is the triggervoice, the controller 140 controls the electronic device 100 enter avoice recognition mode. In addition, the controller 140 controls thevoice signal analyzer 120 to analyze the trigger voice, and controls thestorage 130 to store a characteristic of the user's voice.

The characteristic of the user's voice may include energy of the user'svoice, frequency band distribution, an RT of the user's voice, or auser's voice SNR as analysis result of the voice signal analyzer 120.

In addition, when a voice command is input to control the electronicdevice 100, the controller 140 controls the voice signal analyzer 120 toanalyze the voice command.

The controller 140 compares analyzed characteristics of the voicecommand with the characteristics of user's voice that is stored in thestorage 130. Subsequently, the controller 140 controls the electronicdevice 100 to perform a function corresponding to the voice commandbased on the comparison results.

More specifically, when data acquired by analyzing at least one ofenergy, frequency bandwidth, an RT during the input of the voicecommand, or a voice SNR of the voice command input through the voicereceiver 110 is within a predetermined range of data acquired byanalyzing at least one of energy, frequency bandwidth, an RT of thestored trigger voice, and a voice SNR of the user's voice corresponds tothe trigger voice, the controller 140 controls the electronic device 100to perform a function corresponding to the voice command.

In addition, the controller 140 controls the storage 130 to store user'svoice condition or user's voice environment of user's voice analyzed bythe voice signal analyzer 120 as a characteristic of the user's voice.

The controller 140 finishes voice recognition mode after a predeterminedperiod of time. More specifically, after a user's voice input throughthe voice receiver 110 is the trigger voice because of which theelectronic device 100 enters the voice recognition mode, if a voicecommand is not input during a predetermined period of time, thecontroller 140 finishes the voice recognition mode, i.e. controls theelectronic device 100 to exit the voice recognition mode.

In addition, when characteristics of a voice command analyzed by thevoice signal analyzer 120 is not similar to the characteristics ofuser's voice stored in the storage 130, the controller 140 bypasses thevoice command.

With reference to FIG. 4, the electronic device 100 may include a voicereceiver 110, a voice signal analyzer 120, storage 130, a controller140, an image receiver 150, an image processor 160, a display 170, anaudio processor 180, an audio outputter 190, a communicator 200, and aninputter 210. FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of the electronic device100 in which the electronic device 100 is a device having diversefunctions such as voice recognition function, communication function,video playback function, display function, and the like. According toexemplary embodiments, some of the components shown in FIG. 4 may beomitted or modified, and other components may be added.

The voice receiver 110 receives a user's voice. The voice receiver 110may include a microphone (not shown), and receive a user's voice throughthe microphone. The microphone may be included in the electronic device100 or in an external device. The external device may be a remotecontroller. The remote controller may receive a user's voice through themicrophone, and transmit the user voice to the voice receiver 110.

That is, the voice receiver 110 may receive the user's voice inputthrough the microphone, and may process the user's voice into electricalaudio data. In addition, the voice receiver 110 may transmit theprocessed audio data to the voice signal analyzer 120.

The voice signal analyzer 120 analyzes a voice received through thevoice receiver 110. For example, the voice signal analyzer 120 analyzesa user's voice to acquire energy, frequency band distribution, or areverberation time (RT) of the user's voice.

When a user's voice is received, noise around the user may also bereceived. Accordingly, the voice signal analyzer 120 may analyze auser's voice to acquire a user's voice signal to noise ratio (SNR).

The storage 130 stores diverse analysis results of the voice signalanalyzer 120. More specifically, the storage 130 may store analyzedcharacteristics of a user's voice, i.e. energy of the user's voice,frequency band distribution, an RT of the user's voice, or a user'svoice SNR.

In addition, the storage 130 stores diverse software modules and data todrive the electronic device 100. For example, the storage 130 may storesoftware including a voice recognition module, a base module, a sensingmodule, a communication module, a presentation module, a web browsermodule, and a service module, according to an exemplary embodiment.

The controller 140 controls overall operation of the electronic device100. In particular, the controller 140 determines whether a voice inputthrough the voice receiver 110 is the trigger voice.

The trigger voice is a voice to change the mode of operation of theelectronic device 100 into voice recognition mode to perform voicerecognition. More specifically, the trigger voice is a predeterminedshort word/phrase stored in the electronic device 100. For example, theelectronic device 100 may initially set “Hi, TV” as trigger voice. Inother words, the trigger voice may be a user's voice which is apredetermined word/phrase received through the voice receiver 110 asdescribed above, or may be a user's voice first input after the userpresses an input button provided on an external device of the electronicdevice 100, e.g. a remote controller.

More specifically, if the predetermined word/phrase stored in theelectronic device 100 is “Hi, TV”, when “Hi, TV” is input through amicrophone, the controller 140 changes the mode of operation of theelectronic device 100 into voice recognition mode, and controls thevoice signal analyzer 120 to analyze the input user's voice “Hi, TV”.The microphone may be included in the electronic device 100 or in anexternal device of the electronic device 100 such as a remotecontroller. In addition, when a user command of pressing an input buttonof the remote controller is input and then a voice is first input, thecontroller 140 may determine that the first input voice is the triggervoice.

That is, when the controller 140 determines that an input voice is thepredetermined trigger voice, the controller 140 changes the mode ofoperation of the electronic device 100 into voice recognition mode,controls the voice signal analyzer 120 to analyze the trigger voice, andcontrols the storage 130 to store characteristics of the user's voice.For example, the controller 140 controls the storage 130 to store theanalysis result of the trigger voice such as energy of the triggervoice, frequency bandwidth, a reverberation time (RT) when saying thevoice, and/or a voice signal to noise ratio (SNR).

When a voice command is input through the voice receiver 110 after theelectronic device has entered into a voice recognition mode, thecontroller 140 controls the voice signal analyzer 120 to analyze thevoice command. The voice command may include all of the users' voices tocontrol functions of the electronic device 100. In addition, thecontroller 140 controls the voice signal analyzer 120 to recognize auser's voice having more than a predetermined energy as a voice command,and analyze the user's voice.

For example, when a control voice “channel thirteen” is input throughthe voice receiver 110 after the electronic device 100 has entered intoa voice recognition mode, the controller 140 controls the voice signalanalyzer 120 to analyze energy, frequency bandwidth, an RT while thevoice command is being input, and/or a voice SNR of the voice command“Channel thirteen”.

When analysis results regarding energy, frequency bandwidth, an RT whilethe voice command is being input, and/or a voice SNR of the controlvoice “channel thirteen” is within a predetermined range of analysisresults regarding energy, frequency bandwidth, an RT while the triggervoice is being input, and/or a voice SNR of the trigger voice stored inthe storage 130, the controller 140 performs voice recognition for thevoice command and changes the electronic device 100 to channel 13,according to an exemplary embodiment.

In addition, when the user presses an input button of an external deviceand says “Channel thirteen”, the controller 140 determines that “Channelthirteen” is the trigger voice. Subsequently, the controller 140analyzes “Channel thirteen” based on the aforementioned method, storesthe analysis result as a characteristic of the user's voice, and changesthe mode of operation of the electronic device 100 to a voicerecognition mode. In addition, the controller 140 changes the electronicdevice 100 to channel 13.

When a voice command “Volume up” is received through the voice receiver110 after changing to channel 13, the controller 140 analyzes thereceived voice command using the voice signal analyzer 120, anddetermines whether the analysis result is within a predetermined rangeof the characteristic of the user's voice. When the analysis result iswithin a predetermined range of the characteristic of the user's voice,the controller 140 performs voice recognition and turns up the volume.

When a plurality of users' voices are received after changing into voicerecognition mode, the controller 140 controls the voice signal analyzer120 to analyze each of the users' voices. In addition, the controller140 determines that among the users' voices, a user voice havinganalysis result which is similar to the characteristic of user's voicestored in the storage 130 is a voice command. Accordingly, thecontroller 140 performs voice recognition according to the determinedvoice command.

For example, if a first user, a second user, and a third user arecommunicating around the electronic device 100, and the first userissues a predetermined trigger voice “Hi, TV”, the voice receiver 110receives the first user's voice, and the controller 140 changes the modeof operation of the electronic device 100 into a voice recognition mode,and controls the voice signal analyzer 120 to analyze the first user'strigger voice.

More specifically, the voice signal analyzer 120 may analyze energy andfrequency band distribution of the first user's voice. In addition, thevoice signal analyzer 120 may analyze an RT while the first user's voiceis being input and the first user's voice SNR. The controller 140controls the storage 130 to store the analysis result of the firstuser's trigger voice as a characteristic of user's voice.

When the first user, the second user, and the third user say “Volumeup”, “Finish”, and “Channel thirteen” respectively after thecharacteristic of user's voice is stored, and when the voice receiver110 receives the users' voices, the controller 140 controls the voicesignal analyzer 120 to analyze each user's received voice.

The voice signal analyzer 120 analyzes at least one of energy, frequencyband distribution, an RT, or an SNR of each user. In addition, thecontroller 140 compares the analysis result regarding a characteristicof each user's voice with the characteristic of user's voice stored inthe storage 130. That is, the controller 140 determines that theanalysis result of “Volume up” voice input by the same user (first user)is most similar to the characteristic of user's voice stored in thestorage 130, and thus turns up the volume of the electronic device 100in accordance with the voice command “Volume up” input by the firstuser.

In addition, the controller 140 bypasses the second and third users'voices having the analysis results which are different from thecharacteristic of user's voice stored in the storage 130. Thus, althoughthe electronic device 100 receives “Finish” and “Channel thirteen”through the voice receiver 110, the electronic device 100 does notperform their corresponding functions.

When a predetermined period of time has elapsed after voice recognitionis performed, the controller 140 may finish the voice recognitionsession, i.e. control the electronic device 100 to exit the voicerecognition mode. In other words, even though the user does not input acommand to finish voice recognition, the controller 140 controls theelectronic device 100 to finish the voice recognition session when anyuser's voice including a including a voice command is not receivedthrough the voice receiver 110 during a predetermined period of time,according to an exemplary embodiment.

In addition, when a characteristic of a voice command analyzed by thevoice signal analyzer 120 is different from the characteristic of user'svoice stored in the storage 130, the controller 140 bypasses the voicecommand.

For example, the controller 140 controls the voice signal analyzer 120to analyze a user's voice which is determined to be trigger voice, andcontrols the storage 130 to store energy and a voice SNR of the user'svoice as characteristics of the user's voice.

When the voice receiver 110 receives a voice command after thecharacteristics of the user's voice are stored, the controller 140determines whether analysis result of the voice command analyzed by thevoice signal analyzer 120 is similar to the characteristics of theuser's voice stored in the storage 130. When it is determined thatenergy or a voice SNR of the voice command is different from thecharacteristics of the user's voice stored in storage 130, thecontroller 140 bypasses the voice command so that the electronic device100 may not be controlled in accordance with the voice command asdescribed above.

The image receiver 150 receives image data through diverse sources. Forexample, the image receiver 150 may receive broadcast data from anexternal broadcasting station, receive image data from an externalserver in real time, or receive image data stored in the storage 130,according to exemplary embodiments.

The image processor 160 processes image data received by the imagereceiver 150. The image processor 160 performs diverse image processingsuch as decoding, scaling, noise filtering, frame rate conversion, andresolution conversion for image data, according to an exemplaryembodiment.

The display 170 displays a video frame processed by the image processor160 from image data received by the image receiver 150, and at least oneof diverse screens generated by a graphic processor 143, according to anexemplary embodiment.

In particular, the display 170 may display a user interface (UI)indicating a voice recognition mode. For example, when “Hi, TV” is inputthrough the voice receiver 110, is analyzed by the voice signal analyzer120, and is thus determined to be the trigger voice, the display 170displays a UI indicating that trigger voice has been recognized and thatthe electronic device 100 has entered a voice recognition mode.

More specifically, the display 170 may display examples of voice commandinputs such as “You can say as below”, “Channel nineteen”, and “Volumeup” as shown in FIG. 7. In addition, the display 170 may display aphrase such as “What would you like to say?”, thereby indicating thatthe electronic device 100 is prepared to receive a voice command.

In addition, in voice recognition mode, when a voice command is inputand a function corresponding to the voice command is performed, thedisplay 170 may display an indicator on the UI under the control of thecontroller 140.

More specifically, in voice recognition mode, when a voice command isinput through the voice receiver 110 and is analyzed by the voice signalanalyzer 120, the display 170 may display a predetermined color (e.g.white) on a portion of the display 170, or display an indicatorflickering in predetermined color (e.g. white) in order to indicate thatthe voice command is being analyzed, according to exemplary embodiments.One of ordinary skill in the art would understand that an infinitedifferent types of indicators may be displayed on the UI to indicate theinformation as described above. The display 170 may display diversetypes of indicators on the UI indicating voice recognition mode.

For example, the display 170 may display an indicator of an icon in theshape of a microphone on the UI as shown in FIG. 8. In addition, inorder to indicate that a voice is being recognized, the display 170 maydisplay a phrase such as “The voice is being recognized”, according toan exemplary embodiment.

The UI indicating voice recognition mode may be displayed on a portionof the display 170. For example, when trigger voice and a voice commandis input, the display 170 may continue to display content, and display aUI indicating voice recognition mode on a portion of the display 170 asshown in FIG. 9, according to an exemplary embodiment.

Also, when a voice command is input and is being analyzed, the display170 may continue to display content, and display an indicator on a UIindicating voice recognition mode on a portion of the display 170 asshown in FIG. 10, according to an exemplary embodiment.

The audio processor 180 processes audio data. The audio processor 180may perform diverse processing such as decoding, amplification, andnoise filtering for audio data. Audio data processed by the audioprocessor 180 may be output to the audio outputter 190, according to anexemplary embodiment.

The audio outputter 190 outputs diverse notification sounds and voicemessages as well as diverse audio data processed by the audio processor180. The audio outputter 190 may be implemented with a speaker,according to an exemplary embodiment. The audio outputter 190 may beimplemented with an audio terminal, according to another exemplaryembodiment.

The communicator 200 communicates with diverse types of external devicesaccording to diverse types of communication methods. The communicator200 may include diverse communication modules such as a universal serialbus (USB) module, a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) module, a Bluetoothmodule, a near field communication (NFC) module, and wirelesscommunication module, according to different exemplary embodiments. TheWi-Fi module, the Bluetooth module, and the NFC module performcommunication based on a Wi-Fi method, a Bluetooth method, and an NFCmethod, respectively. The NFC module is a chip that operates based onthe NFC method which uses a 13.56 MHz band among diverse radio frequencyidentification (RFID) frequency bands such as 135 kHz, 13.56 MHz, 433MHz, 860-960 MHz, and 2.45 GHz. In the case that the Wi-Fi module or theBluetooth module is used, diverse connection information, such as asubsystem identification (SSID), and a session key is transmitted andreceived first, following which diverse information can be transmittedand received.

In addition, when a user's voice or a voice command is input through anexternal device, the communicator 200 receives the input voice. Forexample, when a user voice is input through a microphone mounted in aremote controller, the electronic device 100 receives the input voicethrough the communicator 200.

The inputter 210 receives a user command to control overall operation ofthe electronic device 100. The inputter 210 may be implemented with aremote controller including 4 direction keys for up, down, left andright directions and a confirmation key, according to an exemplaryembodiment. The inputter 210 may be implemented with diverse inputdevices such as a touch screen, a mouse, a pointing device, and thelike.

In addition, if the inputter 210 is a remote controller, the remotecontroller may include an input button to receive a voice input. Theuser presses the input button on the remote controller, and inputs avoice command. In addition, a user's voice first received after pressingthe input button may be treated as the trigger voice.

The controller 140 may include a random-access memory (RAM) 141, aread-only memory (ROM) 142, a graphic processor 143, a main centralprocessing unit (CPU) 144, first to N^(th) interfaces 145-1 to 145-N,and a bus 146 as shown in FIG. 4. The RAM 141, the ROM 142, the graphicprocessor 143, the main CPU 144, and the first to N^(th) interfaces145-1 to 145-N may be connected to one another via the bus 146,according to an exemplary embodiment.

The ROM 142 may store a set of commands to boot up the system. When aturn-on command is input and the power is supplied, the main CPU 144copies an operating system (OS) stored in the storage 130 to the RAM 141and executes the OS according to the commands stored in the ROM 142 sothat the system can boot up. When the boot-up is complete, the main CPU144 copies diverse application programs stored in the storage 130, tothe RAM 141, and runs the copied application programs so that diverseoperations can be performed, according to an exemplary embodiment.

The graphic processor 143 generates a screen including diverse objectssuch as an icon, an image, and text, using an operator (not shown) and arenderer (not shown). The operator operates on property values of eachobject, such as a coordinate value, shape, size and color, according tolayout of the screen using a control command received from the inputter210, according to an exemplary embodiment. The renderer generates ascreen having diverse layout including objects based on the propertyvalues operated on by the operator. The screen generated by the rendereris displayed on a display area of the display 170. In particular, thegraphic processor 143 generates a UI indicating that the trigger voiceis recognized and that a user's voice can be received, according to anexemplary embodiment.

The main CPU 144 accesses the storage 130 and boots up the system usingthe OS stored in the storage 130. In addition, the main CPU 144 performsdiverse operations using diverse programs, contents, and data stored inthe storage 130, according to an exemplary embodiment.

The first to N^(th) interfaces 145-1 to 145-N are connected to theaforementioned components via a bus 146, according to an exemplaryembodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart describing a method for analyzing user's voiceand performing voice recognition according to an exemplary embodiment.

First, the electronic device 100 receives a user's voice (S500). Theelectronic device 100 may receive a user's voice through a microphoneincluded in the electronic device 100 or through a microphone includedin an external device such as a remote controller.

The electronic device 100 determines whether the received user's voiceis the trigger voice (S510). The trigger voice may be a voice to changethe mode of operation of the electronic device 100 to a voicerecognition mode to perform voice recognition. In addition, the triggervoice may be a predetermined word/phrase stored in the electronic device100, or may be phrases having a predetermined length set by the user.For example, when “Hi, TV” is the predetermined phrase stored as thetrigger voice, the electronic device 100 determines whether the receiveduser's voice is “Hi, TV”. When it is determined that the received uservoice is “Hi, TV” (S510-Y), the electronic device 100 changes its modeof operation to a voice recognition mode (S520).

On the other hand, when a user's voice is received through an externaldevice such as a remote controller, the electronic device 100 recognizesthat a user voice first received after pressing an input button providedon the external device is the trigger voice. For example, if “Hi, TV” isthe predetermined phrase stored as the trigger voice, when “Channelthirteen” is first input after pressing the input button on the externaldevice, the electronic device 100 recognizes “Channel thirteen” as thetrigger voice.

If it is determined that the received user's voice is not the triggervoice (S510-N), the electronic device 100 does not change its mode ofoperation to a voice recognition mode and the process goes back to stepS500.

Subsequently, the electronic device 100 analyzes the user voicedetermined to be the trigger voice, and stores characteristics of theuser's voice (S530). More specifically, the characteristics of the uservoice may include user's voice condition and voice environment. The uservoice condition may include energy of the user's voice, and frequencyband distribution of the user's voice. The voice environment may includea reverberation time (RT) while the user's voice is being input, or avoice signal to noise ratio (SNR). That is, the characteristics of theuser's voice may include energy of the user's voice, frequency banddistribution of the user's voice, a reverberation time (RT) while theuser's voice is being input, or a voice signal to noise ratio (SNR).

If a voice command is input to control the electronic device 100(S540-Y), the electronic device 100 analyzes the voice command, andcompares characteristics of the voice command with the storedcharacteristics of the user's voice (S550). The voice command mayinclude all of the users' voices to control functions of the electronicdevice 100. In addition, the electronic device 100 may recognize auser's voice having more than a predetermined energy as a voice commandand analyze the user's voice.

Subsequently, the electronic device 100 performs a functioncorresponding to the voice command based on the comparison results(S560). More specifically, when data acquired by analyzing at least oneof energy, frequency bandwidth, an RT while the voice command is beinginput, and a voice SNR of the voice command are within a predeterminedrange of data acquired by analyzing at least one of energy, frequencybandwidth, an RT while the trigger voice is being input, and a voice SNRof the user's voice corresponding to the trigger voice, the electronicdevice 100 performs a function corresponding to the voice command.

For example, if an input user voice, “Hi, TV”, is determined to be thetrigger voice, the electronic device 100 changes its mode of operationto a voice recognition mode, energy of “Hi, TV” and an RT whileinputting “Hi, TV” are stored as characteristics of the user's voice,and following that the electronic device 100 receives a voice command,“Channel thirteen”.

The electronic device 100 analyzes energy of the input voice command,“Channel thirteen”, and an RT while the voice command is input. When theanalyzed data are within a margin of error of 10% of data regarding thestored characteristics of the user's voice corresponding to the triggervoice, the electronic device 100 may determine that the user who issuedthe trigger voice is the same as the user who issued the voice command.In addition, the electronic device 100 may determine that the inputvoice command represents the user's intentions regarding control of theelectronic device 100. Accordingly, the electronic device 100 changesthe channel to channel 13, according to an exemplary embodiment.

The margin of error of 10% for the comparison data is merely anexemplary embodiment. The margin of error may vary according to initialsetting or environment.

In addition, voice energy and an RT are merely an example ofcharacteristics of user's voice. Any value that varies according tousers or voice environment, such as Frequency band distribution, an RTwhile inputting a voice, and a voice SNR, may be analyzed and stored asa condition for recognizing a user's voice, according to differentexemplary embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart describing a method for analyzing user's voice,performing voice recognition, and finishing the process of voicerecognition according to an exemplary embodiment.

First, the electronic device 100 receives a user's voice (S600). Theelectronic device 100 may receive a user's voice through a microphoneincluded in the electronic device 100 or through a microphone includedin an external device such as a remote controller.

The electronic device 100 determines whether the received user's voiceis the trigger voice (S610). The trigger voice may be a voice to changethe mode of operation of the electronic device 100 to a voicerecognition mode to perform voice recognition. In addition, the triggervoice may be a predetermined word/phrase stored in the electronic device100, or may a phrase having a predetermined length set by the user. Forexample, when “Hi, TV” is the predetermined phrase stored as the triggervoice, the electronic device 100 determines whether the received user'svoice input is “Hi, TV”. When it is determined that the received user'svoice input is “Hi, TV” (S610-Y), the electronic device 100 changes itsmode of operation to a voice recognition mode (S620).

On the other hand, when a user voice is received through an externaldevice such as a remote controller, the electronic device 100 recognizesthat a user voice first received after pressing an input button providedon the external device is the trigger voice. For example, if “Hi, TV” isthe predetermined phrase stored as the trigger voice when “Channelthirteen” is first input after pressing the input button on the externaldevice, the electronic device 100 recognizes “Channel thirteen” as thetrigger voice.

If it is determined that the received user's voice is not the triggervoice (S610-N), the electronic device 100 does not change its mode ofoperation to a voice recognition mode and the process goes back to stepS600.

Subsequently, the electronic device 100 analyzes the user voicedetermined to be the trigger voice, and stores characteristics of theuser's voice (S630). More specifically, the characteristics of theuser's voice may include user's voice condition and voice environment.The user's voice condition may include energy of the user's voice, andfrequency band distribution of the user's voice. The voice environmentmay include a reverberation time (RT) while the voice is being input, ora voice signal to noise ratio (SNR). That is, the characteristics of theuser's voice may include energy of the user's voice, frequency banddistribution of the user's voice, a reverberation time (RT) while thevoice is being input, or a voice signal to noise ratio (SNR).

When a voice command is input to control the electronic device 100(S640-Y), the electronic device 100 analyzes the voice command, andcompares analyzed characteristics of the voice with the characteristicsof the user voice (S650). The voice command may include all of theusers' voices to control functions of the electronic device 100. Inaddition, the electronic device 100 may recognize a user's voice havingmore than a predetermined energy as a voice command, and analyze theuser's voice. If the voice command is not received to control theelectronic device 100 (S640-N), the electronic device 100 waits toreceive the voice command.

When the analyzed characteristics of the voice command are within apredetermined range of the stored characteristics of the user's voice(S660-Y), the electronic device 100 performs a function corresponding tothe voice command (S670).

When the analyzed characteristics of the voice command is out of apredetermined range of the stored characteristics of the user's voice(S660-N), the electronic device 100 bypasses the voice command (S680).

For example, if an input user voice, “Hi, TV”, is determined to be thetrigger voice, the electronic device 100 changes its mode of operationto a voice recognition mode, energy of “Hi, TV” and an RT while “Hi, TV”voice is being input are stored as characteristics of the user's voice,and the electronic device 100 receives a voice command, “Channelthirteen”.

The electronic device 100 analyzes energy of the input voice command“Channel thirteen” and an RT while the voice command is being input.When the analyzed data is within a margin of error of 10% of dataregarding the stored characteristics of the user's voice correspondingto the trigger voice, the electronic device 100 may determine that theuser who issued the trigger voice is the same as the user who issued thevoice command, according to an exemplary embodiment. In addition, theelectronic device 100 may determine that the input voice commandcorresponds to the intentions of the user to control the electronicdevice 100. Accordingly, the electronic device 100 changes the channelto channel 13.

However, when the data acquired by analyzing energy of the input controlvoice “Channel thirteen” and an RT while the voice command is beinginput are out of a margin of error of 10% of the data acquired byanalyzing energy of the trigger voice “Hi, TV” and an RT the triggervoice is being input, the electronic device 100 may bypass the inputcontrol voice “Channel thirteen”. Accordingly, the electronic device 100does not change the channel.

The margin of error of 10% for the comparison data is merely anexemplary embodiment, and is not limited thereto. The margin of errormay vary according to initial setting or environment.

In addition, voice energy and an RT are merely examples ofcharacteristics of a user's voice. Any value that varies according tousers or voice environment, such as Frequency band distribution, an RTwhile a voice is being input, and a voice SNR, may be analyzed andstored as a condition for recognizing a user's voice.

After a predetermined period of time has elapsed (S690-Y), theelectronic device 100 finishes the voice recognition session by endingthe voice recognition mode (S700). That is, when another voice commandis not input during a predetermined period of time after performing thefunction corresponding to a previous voice command, the electronicdevice 100 automatically ends the voice recognition mode without inputof a user command to finish voice recognition mode. Accordingly, afterthe voice recognition mode has been ended and the electronic device 100has ended the session of voice recognition, the electronic device 100does not respond to an input of user's voice until a user's voice isdetermined to be the trigger voice.

However, if a predetermined amount of time has not elapsed (S690-N), itis determined if another voice command has been issued by the user(S695). If a voice command has been issued by the user, the processmoves to step S650 where the voice command is analyzed and itscharacteristics compared with the stored characteristics of the user'svoice followed by the rest of the process described above. However, ifno voice command is issued, the process again moved to step S690 whereit is determined if a predetermined amount of time has elapsed.

According to the aforementioned voice recognition method, the user mayeasily control functions of the electronic device 100 without error byissuing a voice command without separate manipulation/input.

The voice recognition methods of the electronic device 100 according tothe diverse exemplary embodiments described above may be coded assoftware and be stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium may be mounted in severaldifferent types of devices.

For example, a program code to, when a user's voice is input, determinewhether the input user's voice is a trigger voice, when it is determinedthat the input user's voice is the trigger voice, changing the mode ofoperation of the electronic device to a voice recognition mode,analyzing the user's voice, and storing characteristics of the user'svoice, and when a voice command is input to control the electronicdevice, analyzing the voice command, comparing analyzed characteristicsof the voice command with the stored characteristics of the user'svoice, and performing a function corresponding to the voice commandbased on the comparison results, may be stored in a non-transitorycomputer readable medium.

The non-transitory computer readable medium is a medium which does notstore data temporarily such as a register, cash, and memory but storesdata semi-permanently and is readable by devices. More specifically, thenon-transitory computer readable medium may be compact disks (CDs),digital video disks (DVDs), hard disks, Blu-ray disks, universal serialbuses (USBs), memory cards, and read-only memory (ROM).

The foregoing exemplary embodiments and advantages are merely exemplaryand are not to be construed as limiting. The present teaching can bereadily applied to other types of apparatuses. Also, the description ofthe exemplary embodiments are intended to be illustrative, and not tolimit the scope of the claims, and many alternatives, modifications, andvariations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A voice recognition method of an electronicdevice, the method comprising: receiving a first voice through amicrophone of the electronic device; based on the first voice being atrigger voice for changing a mode of the electronic device to a voicerecognition mode, changing the mode of the electronic device to thevoice recognition mode; and receiving a second voice through themicrophone in the voice recognition mode; and performing a functioncorresponding to the received second voice, wherein the method furthercomprises: based on the trigger voice being received through themicrophone of the electronic device, displaying a graphic user interface(GUI) indicating that the electronic device is prepared to receive avoice command and a voice command indicator providing a user with thevoice command for performing the function, and based on a user voicereceived through a microphone of an external device after a button ofthe external device is pressed, changing the mode of the electronicdevice to the voice recognition mode and displaying, to the GUI, anindicator indicating that the user voice is being received in the voicerecognition mode and not displaying the voice command indicator.
 2. Themethod as claimed in claim 1, further comprising displaying an indicatorindicating the voice recognition mode.
 3. The method as claimed in claim1, further comprising: if a voice command for controlling the electronicdevice is not input within a predetermined period of time after a voicereceived through the microphone of the external device is received,ending the voice recognition mode.
 4. The method as claimed in claim 1,further comprising: based on the voice command being input through themicrophone of the external device after the external device receives theuser input, comparing at least one characteristic of the voice commandand at least one characteristic of the first voice, based on a result ofthe comparison, analyzing the voice command, and performing a functioncorresponding to the analyzed voice command.
 5. The method as claimed inclaim 4, wherein the at least one characteristic of the first voicecomprises at least one of energy of the first voice, a frequencybandwidth of the first voice, a reverberation time (RT) of the firstvoice, and a voice signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the first voice. 6.The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the performing comprises, ifanalysis data of at least one of energy of the voice command, afrequency bandwidth of the voice command, a reverberation time (RT) ofthe voice command, and a voice signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the voicecommand are within a predetermined range of analysis data ofcorresponding at least one of the energy of the first voice, thefrequency bandwidth of the first voice, the RT of the first voice, andthe voice SNR of the first voice, performing the function correspondingto the voice command.
 7. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein thecomparing comprises, if a plurality of voices are received, analyzingthe plurality of voices, and from among the analyzed plurality ofvoices, determining at least one of the analyzed voices having at leastone characteristic matching at least one characteristic of the firstvoice as the voice command, and wherein the performing comprisesperforming a function corresponding to the determined voice command. 8.The method as claimed in claim 4, further comprising: if the at leastone characteristic of the voice command is different from the at leastone characteristic of the first voice, bypassing the voice command. 9.An electronic device comprising: a display; a communicator; amicrophone; and a controller configured to, receive a first voicethrough the microphone, based on the first voice being a trigger voicefor changing a mode of the electronic device to a voice recognitionmode, change the mode of the electronic device to the voice recognitionmode, receive a second voice through the microphone in the voicerecognition mode, and perform a function corresponding to the receivedsecond voice, wherein the controller is further configured to, based onthe trigger voice being received through the microphone, control thedisplay to display a graphic user interface (GUI) indicating that theelectronic device is prepared to receive a voice command and a voicecommand indicator providing a user with the voice command for performingthe function, and based on a user voice received through a microphone ofan external device after a button of the external device is pressed,change the mode of the electronic device to the voice recognition modeand control the display to display, to the GUI, an indicator indicatingthat the user voice is being received in the voice recognition mode andnot to display the voice command indicator.
 10. The electronic device asclaimed in claim 9, wherein the controller controls the display todisplay an indicator indicating the voice recognition mode.
 11. Theelectronic device as claimed in claim 9, further comprising: whereinwhen a voice is received through the external device, the controllercontrols the communicator to receive the voice received through theexternal device.
 12. The electronic device as claimed in claim 9,wherein if a voice command for controlling the electronic device is notinput within a predetermined period of time after a voice received fromthe external device is received, the controller ends the voicerecognition mode.
 13. The electronic device as claimed in claim 9,wherein the controller is further configured to, based on the voicecommand being through the microphone of the external device after theexternal device receives the user input, compare at least onecharacteristic of the voice command and at least one characteristic ofthe first voice, based on a result of the comparison, analyze the voicecommand, and perform a function corresponding to the analyzed voicecommand.
 14. The electronic device as claimed in claim 13, wherein thecontroller is further configured to store in a storage at least one ofenergy of the first voice, a frequency bandwidth of the first voice, areverberation time (RT) of the first voice, and a voice signal to noiseratio (SNR) of the first voice as the at least one characteristic of thefirst voice.
 15. The electronic device as claimed in claim 13, whereinif analysis data of at least one of energy of the voice command, afrequency bandwidth of the voice command, a reverberation time (RT) ofthe voice command, and a voice signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the voicecommand are within a predetermined range of analysis data ofcorresponding at least one of the energy of the first voice, thefrequency bandwidth of the first voice, the RT of the first voice, andthe voice SNR of the first voice, the controller performs the functioncorresponding to the voice command.
 16. The electronic device as claimedin claim 13, wherein when a plurality of voices are received through themicrophone, the controller controls a voice signal analyzer to analyzethe plurality of voices, determines at least one of the plurality ofvoices, having the at least one analyzed characteristic matching atleast one characteristic of the first voice as the voice command, andperforms a function corresponding to the determined voice command. 17.The electronic device as claimed in claim 13, wherein when the at leastone characteristic of the voice command is different from the at leastone characteristic of the first voice, the controller bypasses the voicecommand.